The IRS tonight announced that the third round of economic impact payments will begin reaching Americans over the next week, with some direct deposit payments arriving as soon as this weekend. “Additional batches of payments will be sent in the coming weeks by direct deposit and through the mail as a check or debit card. The vast majority of these payments will be by direct deposit,” the IRS said. “Some Americans may see the direct deposit payments as pending or as provisional payments in their accounts before the official payment date of March 17.”
The IRS added that it would update its Get My Payment tool for consumers to check the status of their EIPs starting on Monday. While individuals who have not filed a 2019 or 2020 tax return will be eligible to claim their EIPs on a newly filed tax return, the Get My Payment portal will only provide status updates for those who filed in 2019 or 2020 with direct deposit. The IRS also issued FAQs for consumers that cover EIP amounts, eligibility and payment status.
To help bankers prepare for this third round of payments and to complement the IRS FAQs, ABA has updated its backgrounder on EIPs, as well as a set of talking points they can reference when fielding questions from customers and the media.